Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development (PhD) Requirements
The Doctoral (Ph.D.) Program in Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development with specializations in Human Resources and Interregional and International Business aims to prepare excellent professional to occupy high level administrative and management positions as well as positions in post secondary educational institutions in Puerto Rico.
This Program centers its interest in scientific research, the management of problems affecting the economy, politics and education. At the same time it provides for the development of analytical and critical thinking.
The Program aims to contribute to the formation of values and attitudes that should be characteristic of the professional person who recognizes the value of globalization and modern technology within the framework of current theories. It also aims to contribute to the social and economic improvement of Puerto Rico through the formation of highly competent, alert, receptive and capable professionals interested in the continuous enhancement and enrichment of knowledge, skills and attitudes.
The San Germán Campus received a specialized accreditation for its programs in Business Administration through International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), located on 11374 Strang Line Road, Lenexa, Kansas, USA. Among the accredited Business Administration Programs is the Doctoral Program (Ph.D.) Managerial Development with specializations in Human Resources and in Interregional and International Business.
The Metropolitan and San Germán campuses are authorized to offer this Program.
Program Objectives
- To offer a high-quality doctoral program in the area of business administration to adequately meet the current emerging needs and interests of the Puerto Rican society and of geographic areas of greater relevance (the United States, the Caribbean and Central and South America).
- To achieve the highest amount of knowledge and to develop the required conceptual and methodological skills for planning, directing and conducting creative and original scientific research in the area of business administration.
- To assist in the integral formation of graduate by offering a curriculum with a modern human and global focus which at the same time propitiates the development of analytical, reflective and critical thinking.
- To promote and support research oriented toward the achievement of those levels of efficiency and productivity which will contribute to economic growth, a reduced rate of unemployment, and which will bring about the just distribution of wealth and to the general welfare of our society.
- To contribute to the formation of highly capable persons who individually or in groups, through participation and collaboration may show leadership, devotion and a continuous commitment to the search for innovative and creative solutions to the most relevant problems in the field of business administration at the local and foreign levels.
- To promote students and professors’ active participation in the solution of developmental, economic and social problems in Puerto Rico the Caribbean.
- To expose students and the community to different trends of knowledge, practice and philosophies that guide the business administration field.
- To promote both oral and written language proficiency in Spanish and English in this professional field.
Specific Objectives by Specialization
Specialization in Interregional and International Businesses
The specialization in Interregional and International Businesses is directed to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for:
- Enhancing and enriching the teaching profession in higher education institutions.
- Planning, directing and leading creative and original scientific research.
- Making administrative business decisions in complex and conflicting situations in a global environment.
- Establishing policies and strategies for the development of companies at the domestic as well as the global level.
Specialization in Human Resources
The specialization in Human Resources is directed to develop in the graduates the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for:
- Enhancing and enriching the teaching profession in higher education institutions.
- Planning, directing and leading creative and original scientific research.
- Making administrative human resource decisions in complex and conflicting situations in a global environment.
- Establishing policies and strategies for the development of companies at the domestic as well as the global level.
Admission Requirements
Students who apply for admission to this Program must:
- Hold a Master in Business Administration or equivalent, if evidence of experience in the field is presented.
- Have approved mathematical courses at the calculus level.
- Have approved courses at the graduate level in accounting, finance, quantitative methods, managerial economics, statistics, statistics applied to business administration, computers, and management.
- Have a minimum general average of 3.25.
- Hold an interview with the Doctoral Program’s Admissions Committee and be recommended by the Committee.
Conditional Admission
The Admissions Committee of the Program could recommend a conditional admission for a candidate who does not fulfill some requirements at the time of requesting admission to the Program. This conditional admission would allow the student to initiate studies in the Program.
Once the student passes nine (9) credits in the Program, with a minimum grade of B, in a period of time not greater than a year, the Admissions Committee will reevaluate the case and will make recommendations on the admission request. The performance in the courses taken in the Program, the professional experience, and other factors that the Admissions Committee considers appropriate will be taken into account to predict the student’s success in the Program. This type of admission does not guarantee that the student finally receives a regular admission to the Program.
Admission of Transfer Students
The admission of transfer students will be considered if they satisfy the Program Admission Requirements.
In order for credit to be granted for studies already realized, candidates will have to request that their university of origin send their official transcript directly to the Office of the Doctoral Program of the campus to which they are requesting admission, and they must meet the following conditions:
- Students who have begun studies for a doctoral degree in Business Administration at another accredited university can transfer up to 15 credits they have passed with grades of A or B, if the courses are equivalent to courses offered in the Doctoral Program in Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of Inter American University of Puerto Rico.
- Transfer of credits of finished doctoral degrees will not be accepted.
- These decisions will be made by the Doctoral Program Director or his counterpart and will be subject to the approval of the Dean of Academic Affairs of the campus to which the transfer student will be admitted.
- No academic work taken more than 10 years previously will be considered for validation purposes. Each case will be evaluated separately.
Admission of Internal Transfer Students
Students of Inter American University of Puerto Rico, who wish to move to another unit of the System to complete the Doctoral Program Requirements, must satisfy the following:
- Have regular student admission to the Program.
- Request the transfer of their academic file to the unit to which they wish to transfer.
- Have an interview with the Admissions Committee of the Program of the unit to which they wish to transfer.
- Present a letter from the Director of the Doctoral Program from which they wish to transfer indicating if they fulfill the academic progress norms of the Doctoral Program and recommending the transfer.
Academic Progress
In the Doctoral Program students show their academic progress through the following steps:
- Maintain a minimum general index of 3.00.
- Pass each one of the specialization courses with a minimum grade of B.
- Approval of the comprehensive examinations with a minimum grade of 80 percent.
- Admission as a degree candidate.
- Selection of the Dissertation Committee.
- Defense and approval of a research proposal.
Besides fulfilling the established Academic Progress norms for this Program, students will have to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements for Doctoral Programs of the Graduate Catalog.
Comprehensive Examinations
The Doctoral Program in Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of Inter American University of Puerto Rico requires the approval of the comprehensive examinations in order to request candidacy to the degree.
Prior to requesting admission to candidacy to the degree, students will pass the comprehensive examination and will present a preliminary research proposal. The comprehensive examinations can only be taken after the student has passed every core course maintaining a minimum index of 3.00 and each one of the specialization courses with a minimum grade of B.
The comprehensive examinations will include material related to the Program core courses and to the student’s area of specialization.
To be eligible to take the comprehensive examinations, students must satisfy the following requirements:
- Be a regular student of the Program.
- Have completed all core courses with a general academic index of 3.00 and all the specialization courses with a minimum grade of B.
- Have a minimum average of 3.00.
Students will have a maximum of two opportunities to take and pass the comprehensive examination. If after two attempts they do not pass these, the faculty of the Program will evaluate the case and will submit recommendations to the students of the actions that must be taken to satisfy the deficiencies identified in their examinations. If finally, the student does not satisfy these deficiencies and pass the comprehensive examination, the student will not be able to continue in the Program.
Dissertation
The Doctoral Program in Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of Inter American University of Puerto Rico requires the approval of a doctoral dissertation to confer the degree.
The Dissertation Committee will be integrated by three professors and will be designated by the Program Director in common agreement with the doctoral student, according to the institutional norms. One of the professors will preside over the Dissertation Committee.
In consultation with the Dissertation Committee, the student will select the subject of the dissertation and will prepare the preliminary research proposal. The student will submit this proposal to the Dissertation Committee. Once approved, the Doctoral Program Director will inform the student of admission as a degree candidate.
The Doctoral Program Director will provide the Dissertation Committee with the student file, containing the results of the comprehensive examinations, preliminary research project proposal, record of the student’s academic work up to that moment, and any other document of academic relevance to the work of the candidate. The Dissertation Committee will have from that moment on the function of advising and directing the student until the completion of the dissertation.
The dissertation will have to be defended and approved by an oral examination before the Doctoral Dissertation Committee for this requirement to be completed.
Graduation Requirements
Students must meet the following graduation requirements:
- Pass all courses with a general index of 3.00 or more.
- Pass each of the specialization courses with a minimum grade of B, maintaining a specialization index of 3.00 or more.
- Pass the comprehensive examinations in agreement with the requirements established in the Program.
- Pass the doctoral dissertation defense.
Students must fulfill the requirements for the degree within an eight (8) year period. The Graduate Committee may recommend to the pertinent authorities to extend this term by a period no greater than two (2) years in worthy exceptional cases.
Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development
| Core Course Requirements |
34 credits |
| Specialization Requirements |
15 credits |
| Prescribed Distributive Requirements |
6 credits |
| Total |
55 credits |
Core Course Requirements - 34 credits